Rumsfeld Resignation

by Hari Osofsky

In a move likely to have a significant impact on U.S. foreign policy, particularly with respect to Iraq, President Bush announced today that Donald Rumsfeld is resigning as Defense Secretary and that Robert Gates is replacing him.

Donald Rumsfeld will resign as Defense Secretary in a stunning consequence of yesterday’s midterm election results which demonstrated American dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq.

President Bush has chosen Robert Gates, president of Texas A&M and former director of the CIA, to replace him.

Gates represents a change in direction for the Pentagon. He has a reputation for a pragmatic approach to foreign policy. In George H. W. Bush’s administration, Gates served as deputy to National Security Council director Brent Scowcroft, who has been a sharp critic of the current President Bush’s Iraq policy. Gates’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate.

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